What's in the Box?
by Corbin Slate
Summary: Jack is feeling a little blue. Daniel makes and assumption. Spoilers for Cold Lazarus


_Title: What's in the box?  
Author: Corbin Slate  
Spoilers: Cold LazarusCharacters: Jack/Daniel (friendship fic)_

Jack sat on the wooden locker room bench. He was staring straight ahead at nothing, with a small cigar box sitting on his lap.

"Jack?" He blinked when Daniel's voice called his name. "Jack, are you all right?"

Jack blinked again, but offered no other response.

"We were all about to go and get something to eat. Maybe you'd like to come along?"

Jack shook his head. No. He set his cigar box down beside him on the bench and waited for Daniel to take the hint and get lost.

"Ah, Jack, I know that you have been through a lot in the past few hours. I would rather not see you suffer alone."

"You could always just go into the other room," Jack said softly. "Don't let me stop you."

Daniel blinked in surprise. He really hadn't expected Jack to respond to him aloud. Several seconds passed before he decided to risk speaking to Jack again. "It must have been difficult for you to-," Daniel stopped as soon as Jack began to speak.

"It wasn't him. I keep telling myself that. Just like I told Sara. It's not Charlie." Jack scrubbed his fingertips over his eyes.

"The alien took Charlie's form, just as it took your form when it visited Sara."

"I know that. I was there at the hospital, remember?" Jack had to concentrate so that he wouldn't grind his teeth off at the gums inside his mouth.

"Jack, I know this is hard-"

Jack made a low noise in his throat. "I used to think that I would give anything to see him again for a few moments. To hear his voice. See him smile. But now, I realize that was so stupid of me."

"Jack," Daniel said as he took a few cautious steps forward to close the sizable gap between the colonel and himself. "It's natural for you to want to be with him again."

"I didn't want to leave him. Even though I knew... I knew that it wasn't my son standing there at the gate with me. I didn't want to have to say goodbye to him again."

"Jack, the alien wasn't trying to hurt you..."

"Things were fine. I was moving forward. I didn't ask to have my face shoved into this," Jack growled as images of Charlie dripped through his thoughts. Each memory was torture shredding into the scar tissue that Jack had been building over time.

"I don't know what to say, Jack." Daniel looked away as he could see Jack was struggling to bite back his emotions.

"Maybe, if I could go back through the gate-"

"Jack, I don't think that will help," Daniel said furrowing his brow. "You said it yourself that it wasn't really Charlie."

"God, I just..." Jack halted as his voice wavered slightly. "I miss him." He clenched his jaw and held the pressure for several seconds. It didn't help, so he relaxed his mouth a little. This was worse than a firefight with hostiles.

"I know," Daniel said gently. "You gonna be okay?"

Jack rubbed at his right eye for a second and Daniel almost kicked himself.

"Sorry, that was a stupid question."

Jack didn't say a thing, but the slight raise of an eyebrow was enough to let Daniel know that he agreed.

"Right, so now wh-"

"Daniel!" Jack snapped the man's name a bit louder than he had actually intended to, but he did get his attention right away.

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

"Right, sorry. This is just-" Daniel cut off when Jack made a fist. "Oh, ok... shutting up now, really." Daniel shuffled his feet and glanced at the box that was sitting beside Jack. He'd never seen what was inside of it before, because Jack almost never took it out of his locker.

"Uh, Jack?" Daniel adjusted his glasses a little as he spoke, and tried not to wince when he heard Jack groan aloud.

"Yeah, Daniel?"

"What's in the box?"

Jack reached over and grabbed the box quickly. "None of your business, Daniel."

"It's not a-" Daniel stopped when Jack gave him a stare. It was almost a blank look at first, but a few seconds later Jack seemed to have figured out what Daniel had been thinking. Jack's eyes narrowed, as a grim expression consumed his features.

"No, it's not. Don't be stupid, Daniel."

Daniel scratched above his eye. He couldn't walk away from Jack with any doubt in his mind. "No, of course not. So why don't you show me what you have in there?"

"Leave me alone, Daniel."

"I can't do that, Jack."

"It's not that difficult for a guy as smart as you. You said you were gonna go get something to eat, so go."

Daniel sighed. "I'll go."

"Good." Jack waited and Daniel just stood there watching him.

"But first I want to see what you have in the box."

"Out of the question, Daniel."

Daniel gave Jack an odd look, but he seemed to know that he had run into a brick wall. If Jack didn't want him to see what was inside of the box, well then, that was that. Jack watched as Daniel finally turned to leave, and looked back down at the box as soon as he thought that Daniel was gone. He took off the thin rubber band that kept the box from coming open on it's own and flipped open the lid.

"Jack, no!" Jack barely had time to register the voice and look up before a body smashed into him, flinging him over the bench and onto the concrete floor. The contents of his box went everywhere. Jack could feel the weight of someone bearing down on him as if to keep him from trying to get up.

"Daniel! What in the hell is the matter with you! Get off me!"

Daniel had a surprised expression on his face. That hadn't been what he had suspected at all. He spotted several pictures lying on the floor, a few of a younger Jack and some of Jack's family. He moved off of Jack, being careful not to squish any of the photos and picked up a gold band that had landed nearby.

"Jack, I'm sorry," Daniel said straightening his glasses.

Jack picked up photos that were close to him and glared at Daniel who was trying to help clean up the mess.

"I just thought. Well, um," Daniel faltered as he tried to find a way to explain what he had been thinking without coming off as an idiot.

"Daniel, help me clean up this mess." Jack was quickly putting the pictures back into his box along with the little souvenirs he had been saving. Daniel handed Jack a small stack of photos and the ring he had picked up. Once Jack was sure that everything was safe in the box he put the band back on to keep the lid shut and quickly shoved the box into his locker.

"I'm-"

"Oh for crying out loud. Daniel," Jack growled, "If you say you're sorry one more time... so help me."

Daniel tried not to smile, because he didn't want to irritate Jack any further. "I was going to say, I'm glad I was wrong."

"Yeah well, you can't always be right," Jack said as he turned to face Daniel. "Besides, if there had been a gun in that box, you could have been shot."

"Ah, yeah. I hadn't really considered that. I was more concerned with subduing you."

"You could have just trusted me when I told you it wasn't a weapon. I mean, do I usually hide my sidearm while I am on base, Daniel? Think about that for a second."

Daniel sighed. Time to change the subject while Jack seemed up for it. "So are you hungry?"

Jack shook his head and smiled; Daniel was persistent. "Yeah, I could eat."

-End


End file.
